Fong Songs 101 All-Time Covers: #15 to 11

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Just joining us?
I'm counting down 101 of my all-time favourite covers before packing this blog away in the attic.
Read my countdown preamble here.
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Oddly enough, the logo and goofy tagline has never changed since day one! My awesome friends made this shirt for my birthday one year. If I remember correctly, the blog had not even reached its first anniversary.

CanConCovers
From the get-go I've been inclined, if not unofficially mandated, to provide a Canadian bias to my blog coverage. As a Canadian blogger, I'm more than happy to draw attention to and trumpet homegrown talent (Danny Michel!) while apologizing for others (Nickelback). Canadian Content (AKA CanCon) is a unavoidable part of the Canadian radio and television landscape, requiring minimum percentages of Canadian produced content to air. Sometimes we grumble about it (i.e. lots of Loverboy airplay), but when done right it can be used to celebrate unheralded talent and hey, that's sort of what music blogging is all about, eh? I even started an irregularly updated and eventually abandoned feature called Canadian Cover Content to discuss cover songs of and/or by Canadian artists. Here are five of my favourite CanConCovers.

15. Captain Tractor - London Calling [originally by The Clash]
Hometown Edmonton boys Captain Tractor were great songwriters and impeccable musicians that were vastly underrated, except perhaps locally. Their 1999 album Celebrity Traffic Jam marks the first and only time my name shows up in an album's liner notes, which I think just happened for pre-ordering the disc (it was also my birthday present!).

14. The Bicycles - Cuddly Toy [originally by Harry Nilsson]
Toronto indie-rock band The Bicycles specialized in wonderful originals inspired by the bubblegum pop of yesteryear, but their debut The Good, The Bad and the Cuddly also featured this cover that was originally written by Nilsson for The Monkees. I did not realize until just now that five of the songs on that album including this one were recorded with Robert Sledge (of Ben Folds Five) in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

13. Tok Tok Tok - The Weight [originally by The Band]
The Weight has been covered umpteen times and most artists don't really mess with it, but this groovy genre-bustin' cover by "acoustic soul" band Tok Tok Tok will leave you tapping your toes all day long.

12. Danny Michel - Gloomy Sunday [originally by Rezső Seress]
Gloomy Sunday is the so-called "Hungarian suicide song" that, according to urban legend, was banned from radio play after leading to a series of suicides. The lyrics tell of the author's recently deceased love ("little white flowers will never awaken you") and his desire to join her ("my heart and I have decided to end it all"). For the English version, most famously performed by Billie Holiday, a vaguely happy ending was tacked on to the otherwise depressing lyrics, revealing it was all a bad dream. More likely a marketing ploy than any real suicide epidemic, the legend was further enhanced by the fact that the original composer Rezső Seress did in fact commit suicide. I never did get around to writing and posting my planned "Gloomy Sunday in Canada" feature with CanConCovers of this song, but it was all an elaborate ruse to post this cover by Danny Michel anyway. Mind you, a remix by Winnipeg electronic artist Venetian Snares titled Öngyilkos Vasárnap is definitely worth seeking out.

11. Serena Ryder - It Doesn't Matter Anymore [originally by Paul Anka; recorded by Buddy Holly]
This piano/organ/vocal cover by Ontario singer Serena Ryder comes from If Your Memory Serves You Well, her cover album of songs penned by Canadian songwriters, in this case Paul Anka. It's a dramatic change from the upbeat original as performed by Buddy Holly in 1958 and is probably more indebted to Linda Ronstadt's country rendition from 1975.

Fong Songs 101 countdown concludes tomorrow with the coveted Top 10!

Danny Michel takes over the world!

I seem to be writing a lot about Danny Michel these days, but the man seems to warrant much attention lately, particularly from a cover lover's perspective.

On June 9th at Massey Hall in Toronto, Danny will be part of The Canadian Songbook. Yep, another big concert in T.O. and check out this stacked line-up: Ron Sexsmith, Danny Michel, Luke Doucet, Damhnait Doyle, Kim Stockwood, Marika Bournaki, Karen David, Molly Johnson, Patricia O'Callaghan, Mikel Rouse, Jean Stilwell, Teresa Tova, Nikki Yanofsky, Dan Zanes, and possibly more... all playing Canadian covers!

"The story of a nation is told in its songs as well as its history books, and Canada has never lacked for superb musical narrators. From the chansonniers of Quebec to such icons as Gordon Lightfoot, Joni Mitchell and Leonard Cohen, Canadian troubadours won acclaim throughout the world, their distinctive voices helping construct an epic account of a land and its people.

Now, in an intimate evening at Massey Hall, a new generation of musicians pay homage to this country's greatest songwriters. Festival artists and special guests will be accompanied by Luminato's own hand-picked house band. Great music, great artists, and a hook to catch the hearts of anyone to whom Canada is more than just a name on a map: it's not just our songs they'll be singing, but our stories too."

Not to be confused with The Art of Time Ensemble's Songbook II with Steven Page of the Barenaked Ladies, June 20 & 21.

And don't forget The Blue Revue with Sarah Harmer, Serena Ryder, Hawksley Workman, Great Lake Swimmers, Danny Michel, and more, June 19.

Wow, if you lived in Toronto concert-going would be a full-time job.

The CBC's radio programming for this summer has been announced and Danny Michel and Emm Gryner's cover-based show Under the Covers is one of the new shows. Previously introduced last summer as a one-time special, starting the week of June 23rd Under the Covers will be hitting the airwaves every Saturday night at 9pm on CBC Radio 1 all summer long, which makes 10 one-hour episodes by my count. Danny & Emm will be sharing the best and worst covers and discussing covers with likes of Ron Sexsmith, 54-40, Jann Arden, Sarah Harmer, The Weakerthans and lots more. I hope that means exclusively recorded covers! Definitely required listening.

Sarah Harmer with The Weakerthans - Islands in the Stream (live) [originally by The Bee Gees]
Danny Michel played lead guitar as part of Sarah Harmer's band at this double feature gig that was recorded for CBC Radio.

Emm Gryner - Crazy Train [originally by Ozzy Osbourne]
On her 2001 covers album Girl Versions, Emm took a Tori Amos stripped down piano approach to several rock songs including Blur's Song 2, Def Leppard's Pour Some Sugar on Me, Stone Temple Pilots' Big Bang Baby, and more. Readily available on Amazon, iTunes, Zunior.com, and CD Baby.

Concert Alert for Torontonians

There's a sure-to-be-great show shaping up in Toronto on June 19th. A fundraiser for The Blue Marble Music Fund, the line-up already includes Hawksley Workman, Sarah Harmer, Great Lake Swimmers, and Fong Songs faves Danny Michel and Serena Ryder. $30 + fees at Maple Music, Ticketmaster, and at Soundscapes and Criminal Records in Toronto. Jealous!

Canadian Cover Content #6: Juno Weekend

This weekend is Juno weekend and I don't mean last year's much-beloved indie film, even though that does has more than its fair share of Canadian content-- director Jason Reitman, Ellen Page, Michael Cera... even Jason Bateman has a Canuck connection: he's Paul Anka's son-in-law! Anyway, the Junos are the annual music awards given out by the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. Think Canadian Grammies. Ironically, Juno (the film), despite being filmed in Vancouver with its Canadian stars and director, was ineligible for this year's Genies (think Canadian Oscars) because it wasn't made with Canadian money...

No, not Juneau, though coincidentally the Junos are named after Pierre Juneau, one-time head of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) and architect of our Canadian content regulations. This year's Junos are being held tomorrow night in Calgary, Alberta with host Russell Peters.

There's a bit of controversy this year's awards. At first, Anne Murray's album Duets: Friends and Legends (which has some covers on it, FYI) was left off the list of best album nominees due to an error in the way sales figures were calculated. They've since added her to the nomination, but now there are 6 nominees, leaving everyone wondering who's the weak link of the category... The other nominees are Avril Lavigne, Celine Dion (with two nominations), Michael Bublé, and Feist. A lot of nominees for the major categories are based purely on sales and there's even a Doritos (ugh) Fan Choice award. I have no idea what's the deal with the "International Album of the Year" category with this year's nominees Bon Jovi, Fergie, Josh Groban, Rihanna, and Timbaland. Clearly a celebration of Canadian music. Juno nominations have always been a little suspect: in 2004, Fong Songs fave Danny Michel was once nominated for Best New Artist after his 5TH album since 1997, eventually losing to Juno juggernaut Michael Bublé.

Record sales and stuff aside, at the very least the Junos remind us how awesome Canadian music can be. To celebrate here's a tasty sampling of covers by and of some of the nominated artists.

Danny Michel - After the Gold Rush [originally by Neil Young]
One Juno nominee honours another. Neil Young's Chrome Dreams II is nominated for Best Adult Alternative Album (whatever that means) and Danny's live DVD is nominated for Music DVD of the year. His newest album Feather, Fun & Fin just came out a couple weeks ago and he's currently on a cross-country tour with a stop in Calgary for the Junos. His live shows are not to be missed and I'll probably be seeing back-to-back shows here in Vancouver at the end of the month.

Serena Ryder - Some of These Days [originally by Shelton Brooks]
Serena Ryder - It Doesn't Matter Anymore [originally by Buddy Holly; written by Paul Anka]
Serena Ryder is nominated for Best New Artist of the Year and my vote's for her, though admittedly I'm pretty unfamiliar with the other artists (Belly, Jeremy Fisher, Justin Nozuka, Suzie McNeil, and Jill Barber). I'm still not sure what the criteria for this category is since her debut album is from 2005 while her collection of Canadian cover songs If Your Memory Serves You Well came out in 2006. Her soulful renditions of Some of These Days and It Doesn't Matter Anymore just floor me. I was also blown away when I found out that deep rich bluesy voice was attached to someone in her mid-20's... in fact, younger than me by a few months. Très bizarre.

Suzie McNeil - Remedy [originally by The Black Crowes]
Another of the New Artist nominees is Suzie McNeil, a former contestant on the reality show Rock Star INXS who came in 4th overall. In fact, of the 15 contestants vying to be lead singer for the Aussie rock band, three were Canadian including the eventual winner JD Fortune. From the show's official soundtrack, she does an okay job covering the Black Crowes.

James Keelaghan & Oscar Lopez - Follow Me Up There, Carlos [originally Follow Me Up to Carlow by P. J. McCall; traditional]
James Keelaghan & Oscar Lopez first teamed up in 1997 for the album Compadres, combining Latino and Celtic influences into what they dub "Celtino". I first heard them at the 2000 Edmonton Folk festival and became hooked on that album, which features this traditional Irish tune. I didn't even realize it was a cover until I heard a Celtic punk cover last year. Their long overdue follow-up Buddy, Where You Been? is nominated for a Juno in the category of Roots & Traditional Album of the Year (Group).

Feist - Inside and Out [originally Love You Inside Out by The Bee Gees]
Feist - We Can Work It Out (with Arthur H) [originally by The Beatles]
Jack Penate - 1234 [originally by Feist]
Feist, who's already won a few Junos in past years, could walk away with a few more this year with 5 nominations including Album, Artist, Pop Album, Single (1234), and Songwriter of the Year. Her Beatles cover with French singer Arthur H is from the French TV show Taratata, which I'm starting to realize is a great source for live cover songs. In 2006, Feist was even nominated for a cover song! Her Bee Gees cover was up for Single of the Year, eventually losing to Juno juggernaut Michael Bublé.

The Corb Lund Band - Sixteen Tons [originally by Merle Travis]
Corb Lund's Horse Soldier! Horse Soldier! is nominated for Roots & Traditional Album of the Year (Solo). The first time I heard of Corb Lund he was playing a show in the basement theatre of the downtown library I was working at. Earlier this week, he and his band The Hurtin' Albertans played to a hometown crowd of 6000 fans at Rexall Place, home to our Edmonton Oilers (who are now packed up for the golf season). What a difference a few years makes. Even just last night I happened to catch a feature story about him on The National (Canada's national news broadcast). I'm one of those people who say "I listen to everything... oh yeah, except country music". Of course there are always exceptions to that and Corb Lund is one of them. His debut album Modern Pain was released on cassette in 1995 with only 1000 copies in circulation. It was re-released in 2003 with some bonus tracks including this live cover of Sixteen Tons. To me, the deep baritone of Tennessee Ernie Ford's version of Sixteen Tons will forever be associated to Grade 12 art class where this and Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue seemed to be in constant rotation (no complaints though, I love 'em both!).

Jamie T - When the Night Feels My Song [originally by Bedouin Soundclash]
English singer/songwriter Jamie T performed this cover of Bedouin Soundclash's biggest hit on Jo Whiley's Live Lounge show. This year, Bedouin Soundclash is nominated for Pop Album of the Year and Video of the Year. A couple years ago, When the Night Feels My Song was nominated for Single of the Year, eventually losing to Juno juggernaut Michael Bublé.

Pascale Picard - Wish You Were Here [originally by Pink Floyd]
Québécois artist Pascale Picard is in tough against Avril Lavigne, Celine Dion, Feist, and Juno juggernaut Michael Bublé for Artist of the Year. Not sure how Picard's only nomination ended up in this category. Artist of the Year with no other nominations? Her debut album came out last year and she's not even up for Best New Artist! Silly Junos. She contributed this cover and a great Shine On You Crazy Diamond to the compilation album Pink Floyd Redux, an underrated album that I've posted about a few times.

Michael Bublé - I'm Your Man [originally by Leonard Cohen]
From this year's nominee for Best Album, Call Me Irresistible, Juno juggernaut Michael Bublé swings Leonard Cohen's I'm Your Man. He's also up for Best Pop Album, Artist, Single, and the Doritos (ugh) Fan Choice Award. Call Me Irresistible has already won Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album at this year's Grammies down south. Bublé was nominated in that same category at last year's Grammies too for his Caught in the Act, eventually losing to Tony Bennett's Duets: An American Classic... featuring Juno juggernaut Michael Bublé.





Tune in tomorrow on Juno night for more Canadian covers!